The Black Rose
by GetWellHarley
Summary: After the Cullens leave, Bella is kidnapped by vampires to participate in an underground fight to death against other humans. The winning human gets to be turned into a vampire. With the support of her trainers, Peter and Charlotte, will Bella be able to overcome her humanity and fight for her life? Or will she become one of the fallen? BellaxJasper Family!Peter&Char Family!Cullens
1. Chapter 1

**Harley: I decided to reupload another old story of mine. I'm trying to give myself a wider variety to write so that I'll hopefully update more frequently.**

**WARNINGS: Possbile angst, dark content, suicidal thoughts, emotional triggers.**

**I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Taken

* * *

I had to move on, but moving on was so hard to do when your heart was shattered. I lost everything I held dear so fast, like sand slipping through my fingers. My life had always seemed that way. I would hold it as tightly as I could, make a fist around it until my knuckles turned white and my nails dug into my palm. But, just like sand, everything would just slip away as though I had tried to grab the hand of a ghost. I tried so hard to hold on, but in the end everything would just slip away.

Losing the love of my life was hard enough, but eventually I could get over that. A few pieces of me would be missing, but I could easily build myself up again until the wound on my heart was only scarred. A constant reminder, but not of what I'd lost. A reminder that I had gotten stronger. However, I did not get this prideful scar. Instead, that gaping wound was hooked by the claws of a monster and ripped open wide. Not only had I lost the love of my life, I had lost the family that I had held so close to my heart. Their leaving without so much as a good bye had left my heart in shreds. I felt like every bit of me was oozing through the wounds.

I tried to stop the wound, but it was too painful to touch. I hurt either way. They had left me, completely breaking away from me. They hadn't wanted me. They hadn't cared about me. I was not their family, like they told me that I had been. I wanted to forget the hurt that I was feeling everyday, but forgetting them was just as painful. I never wanted to forget them and the memories of them I had, because they had taken everything else with them. All my pictures of them, gone. All I had were my memories, and the pain I felt was muddling them.

It was as though my whole body was torn between two people. There was the bitter, scorned girl who wanted to blame them for her hurt and forget their promises, then move on with a chip on her shoulder. Then, there was the pained, withering girl who wanted to remember them no matter how much it hurt because they had been all that she had. I found no way to try and get the two girls to compromise, because the bitter one only ended up snapping at the sad one and making her remember more.

Despite the feeling in my chest, I forced myself to go on. My father needed me to be happy. He shouldn't have to remember his daughter as the dead, unhappy girl who everyone thought was only hung up on her run away ex. So, I put up with myself. I left the tears until I was alone, while working through my life on the outside. I pretended to enjoy my old friends company, joined them on a few outings so that he wouldn't ask me what was wrong as much. It was just awkward for the both of us.

I couldn't stop the nightmares, though. It was always complete darkness, the darkness they had left me in. For a moment, I would only be scared. Then, as time went by of just me and the darkness I would slowly lose my mind. I would cry and scream for someone to save me, to help me, for Edward to return, for the Cullens to return, and I would wake up to the face of my worried father. That is, until he finally gave up himself and stopped coming to check up on me. I didn't blame him. I took to sleeping on my stomach so that my screams would be muffled in my pillow. At least that way, he would be able to get rest even though I wouldn't.

The cold, overwhelming chill of loneliness was always present in my life. I could feel it crawling on my skin light a million spiders, crashing against my sanity like a ragefull oceanic wave. No matter how many times I had hung out with my "friends", I always felt alone. I felt alone because no one in Forks would ever understand what I was going through, and I could never tell them because it would never be my secret to tell.

Every day I felt like I was a completely different species then everyone else, because I held a secret that I knew none of them would ever share. I was alone in my boat of loneliness and heart break, and the boat was sinking faster then I could've swayed Alice out of a shopping trip, back when the Cullens had been pretending to care about me.

The day began almost normal. I had woken at an ungodly hour, screaming myself hoarse into my pillow. Once I realized that I was no longer inside the darkness, pleading for help, I allowed my speeding heart to slow down. I had assure myself that I was in reality once more, before sitting up in my bed.

My covers pooled at my waist as I took a glance at the clock. I still had a couple of hours before I _should've_ been getting up for school. I knew that I couldn't go to sleep again, though. There were too many nightmares ready to claim me once my eyes closed and my mind shut off for rest. I was afraid of them, afraid of what lurked behind my eye lids. No one ever understood true fear until the one thing they feared the most was themselves.

I got up despite the early time, and decided to shower. This would give me some time to make Charlie a nice breakfast before he goes to work, something he deserved because for a while he had been eating microwave breakfasts. He deserved something nice for putting up with me so much, and even though I couldn't force myself to go back to normal, the one thing I knew he wanted the most, I could do something nice for him.

Inside the shower, I tried to scrub as hard as I could. I felt so ugly. I tried to scrub the ugly away, in hopes that maybe I would be able to see a little beauty in myself. But my lack of appetite and rest just enhanced the ugly on me. The undersides of my eyes almost looked bruised from lack of sleep, while my hips were beginning to poke out a bit too far. I was in no way the picture of health, not that I had ever been with my clumsy nature.

Stumbling over my own feet didn't even seem the same when the booming laugh of Emmett wasn't following after it.

I managed to get myself clean, dried, and dressed in one piece. I didn't even try to look in the mirror, however, because I was afraid of what I'd see. I was afraid of what everyone else saw when they looked at me. I didn't want to see it, because I knew it would only reflect what I felt on the inside.

I was sure to be quiet as I slowly drifted back and forth through the hallway, making sure not to wake up Charlie. Once I had all of my things around, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and made my way down stairs. I threw the backpack into one of the living room chairs before heading into the kitchen, beginning on Charlie's breakfast.

The meal looked fit for a king, but the sight of it only made my stomach churn. I hadn't eaten much in the past few days and I could feel it taking a toll on my body. I was beginning to feel faint if I moved too quickly or too much. I just hadn't felt hungry, like I didn't need it. Even though food all but seemed to make me sick at that moment, I scraped a small bit of it all for myself. I stopped breathing through my nose, and began to force it down. I continuously washed it down with water, trying to keep myself from retching.

I was just finishing with my plate when I heard Charlie slowly shuffling down the stairs, a large yawn slowly following afterwards. I almost wanted to smile, but I couldn't force myself to. I waited until my father had walked into the kitchen, looking sleepy eyed and dressed in his uniform. He jumped when he saw me standing in the kitchen.

"Jeeze, Bells, don't scare me like that!" He said, shaking his head.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Charlie shrugged it off, and then his nose caught the smell of breakfast. He saw it sitting on the table, still nice and warm. He smiled, and thanked me. He tried to get me to eat some, and I was happy to be able to tell him that I had already eaten without feeling guilty about lying. The rest of the time we spent in silence, him reading the newspaper he had failed to read the day before as he ate his meal.

My father didn't attempt a conversation. He wouldn't know what to say and he knew that, but I could tell he missed the times when we would talk. I wanted to fix that, I truly did, but I couldn't fix myself. No matter how hard I tried, I only ended up more broken.

By the time Charlie left for work, I drove myself to school. My grades had improved greatly since the Cullens had left. Burying myself into my studies was a good way to keep my mind off of my memories. Some days I would study even when I didn't have a test, just so that I could cram my mind with something other then the Cullens.

It was pouring rain by the time I had parked my truck into my usual spot. I could see the kids retreating from their vehicles, into their class buildings. I pulled my rain coat from the cab next to me and pulled it on, zipping it up and throwing the hood over my mess of hair. I jumped out of my truck, my feet splashing in a small puddle right outside the door.

I followed the examples of my peers and made a bee-line towards the building my first period was in. I spent the rest of the day listening to the sound of the rain tapping the windows of the classrooms, letting the words of the teacher go through one ear and out the other. I only paid attention when they gave their homework assignment. Usually, the teachers left me alone. They, like the other students in Forks, noticed the huge change in me when the Cullens left.

My life had become a nice little hovel for rumors. So many flew around the school that I had stopped keeping track of them. Angela and Ben were constantly telling me to just ignore them, which they didn't seem to notice was exactly what I was doing. Mike, Jessica, Lauren, Eric, and Tyler, however, acted a lot different towards me. They still included me in the group, but I could tell that my darker state freaked them out on a different level. I couldn't bring myself to care much.

Lunch was the same every day. I swallowed down a few bites of an apple and water, while listening to the group talk. Angela liked to try and invite me into the conversation, but that usually fizzled out quickly. I didn't like the listen to, much less encourage, Jessica talking about all the latest scandals going on in Forks. I truly thought it was pathetic that only thing she could find worth her time in the small town was talking about things that probably didn't happen. Nothing happened in Forks. At least, not to any one else.

I was staring out the window as I always did during lunch. I watched as rain pelted the windows, running down its surface slickly. It made all the colors behind it blend and blur, almost making it look a bit artistic. I could see the green of the trees mixing, too blurred for me to even make out the individual shapes of the leaves. No matter how hard I tried, I could only see green of different shades.

"Bella?" Angela said suddenly, and I mentally prepared myself for the conversation bait she would cast in front of me.

I looked up, into her eyes. "Yes?"

"I wanted to know if you would like to go to the book store in Port Angeles with me tonight?" She asked, her eyes looking hopeful.

Angela was a good friend. She was the only one who didn't alienate me, the only one worth being around after the Cullens had left. But, the thought didn't interest me much. I wasn't very keen on reading after the Cullens had left. I wasn't very keen on _anything_ after the Cullens had left.

"No thank you, Angela," I said as politely as I could, ducking my eyes to avoid the hurt look I knew that I had caused.

The air at the table was thick for a moment, before Lauren and Jessica dived back into a conversation and the rest of the group was sucked into it. I felt like a horrible friend, and I knew that I didn't deserve them. They didn't have to put up with me or my negativity, but they did. I was grateful for it, but there was no way I could truly thank them.

I went though the rest of the day like normal. The teachers were a mere mumble in the background while I listened to the rain. After so long of hating the cold and the rain, it now comforted me. I liked listening to it tap against the windows or against the roof of my house. It was a moment of peace that I could relish in, but not too often. When I was home, alone, not even the rain could keep my thoughts at bay.

When the final bell rang, I collected my books and headed for my vehicle. I didn't run like other kids were, because I knew it would be a sure way for me to fall flat on my face. I didn't feel like getting all scratched up on concrete, so I took careful consideration of how quickly I moved towards my ride.

Throwing my bag into the cab, I quickly followed and shut the doors. I turned the key in the ignition and was greeted by a thunderous rumble. I loved the sound. I always had, even when Edward had always tried to get me to let him buy me something more up to date and no doubt expensive. I was especially glad I had refused then, or else I would've been stuck with one giant reminder of the man who had broken my heart.

I realized that I had been sitting there, lost in thought. I jumped to attention, and began to back out of the parking lot. I dodged the few stragglers running, late, to their vehicles and turned off of the parking lot. Inside my head I was going over my homework assignments, trying to occupy my thoughts for as long as I could. I allowed my eyes to drift away from the road on occasion, glancing around at the familiar territory of Forks. There was so much green. I used to detest it, but now it brought a sense of home. A corrupted, yet beautiful, home.

When I pulled onto my street, I saw something peculiar. Through the onslaught of rain and the occasional, lazy swipe of my wind-shield wipers, I saw a foreign car parked in the drive way of my home. Charlie's cruiser was parked next to it, which was odd because he usually didn't come home until a couple hours after I did.

Suspicious and confused, I parked behind the strange car and carefully got out of my vehicle. I slung my heavy back pack over my shoulder and walked to the front door. Upon opening the front door, the sound of a conversation died as the two participating in it heard my entrance. My suspicions heightened, and I hung my coat up on a the hook by the door before heading into the living room.

I found myself facing my father and a man I had never seen before in my life. He was a bit older then my father, the golden hair on top of his head graying in certain places. There were laugh lines on his face, adding accent to the happy twinkle in his green eyes. His skin was tanned lightly, something that told me he saw a lot more sun then anyone in Forks did in an entire year. He was wearing dressy jeans and a professional looking, navy blue button down shirt. A pair of thin, squared, wire glasses sat perched on the bridge of his nose.

"Bella, this is Dr. Bailey," Charlie said carefully, and a cold chill of fear shot down my spine.

The man, Dr. Bailey, stood eagerly and crossed the room on his tall legs. He held out his hand, a happy smile on his face. "Hello, Bella, it's very nice to meet you."

I didn't shake his hand. After a few seconds he dropped it, but didn't look phased at all. He was still smiling at me. It was a welcoming, inviting smile that didn't touch my heart like it seemed to be meant to. Instead, it scared me. There was no random reason for this man being here, this I knew. Something was up, and I didn't like it one bit.

"Bella, the school had called me. Your teachers are worried, and so am I. They suggested Dr. Bailey. He's a therapist from Port Angeles," Charlie said, his eyes looking towards the floor guiltily.

I froze, the chill on my spine dropping several more degrees. My finger tips felt numb, and I flexed them a little to try and get over the shock. My father had called a therapist. My school had suggested a therapist. Everyone thought I was insane. They thought I needed a shrink to spill my hurting insides and miraculously get better. I felt a hurt boil in my chest, betrayal leaving a metallic taste on my tongue.

"You called a therapist, without even asking me?" I whispered lightly, feeling tears push against my eyes.

Charlie looked up, sounding startled at hearing some emotion in my voice. Dr. Bailey looked a bit uncomfortable, but also like he wished to step in. He was analyzing my face and actions, making me feel like I was only some sort of challenge for him. He was looking for habits and disorders, something he could pin me with and prescribe medicine for it that would never fix the problem. I didn't want to talk to the this man, I couldn't talk to this man. Everyone thought it should be so easy for me to get over Edward, but it hadn't just been Edward that I had lost.

The peak I had once had into their supernatural world had left my human life bleak, knowing that there was something so much better out there. No one would understand my break up from Edward and the rest of the Cullens because they would never see the world I had seen. They wouldn't ever feel the pull of the supernatural like I had.

"Bells, look, it's for your own good. You refused to go back with your mom and every one is worried about you. You need to talk to someone," Charlie said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I didn't want this. I didn't want to see Dr. Bailey's smiling face once a week. I didn't want to take pills that would only serve to drive me further into my insanity. None of this would help me, only hurt me. I seemed to be the only one who could see that. If I needed something to help me, this surely wasn't it.

Charlie and Dr. Bailey looked alarmed when I slowly began to back away, shaking my head. I felt a tear slip past my defenses, painting it's path down my gaunt cheek. I felt it drip off of my chin, hitting my shirt. I blinked away the rest of my tears, not offering any words before I turned on my heels and sprinted down the hall, towards the front door.

"Bella!" I heard both my father and doctor call.

I tripped down the steps, but managed to only stumble. I somehow managed to catch my balance mid-stumble, and continue running through the ran. I all but slammed into the door of my truck, not managing to get to a complete stop before reaching my destination. I quickly got inside, and let out a small noise when I dropped my keys. I quickly picked them up, about jumping out of my skin when I saw my father outside the window of my truck.

Finally getting the right key in the ignition, I backed out. I saw the blackened figure of my father stand still, watching as I pulled out before going down the street as fast as my rust-bucket truck would allow itself to go. I didn't know where I was going, I was too busy trying to see the road through my tears, thoughts, and the rain. I finally managed to calm down enough to figure out where I was going, and quickly headed towards Angela's house.

I parked in front of her home, and checked my face. I wiped the tears away the best I could, before jumping out of my truck. I walked up the path way, feeling the cool rain running down the back of my neck. I shivered, but whether it was from the rain or what had just happened, I didn't know. I stood underneath the shield of the porch, reaching forward and ringing the door bell.

Luckily for me, Angela had been the one to answer the door. She looked utterly surprised when she was that it was me at the door. "Bella! What are you doing here? And why don't you have a coat on?"

I rubbed my hands up and down my bare arms. I had forgotten my coat in all my panic to get away from Charlie and the therapist. It hadn't bothered me much until then, the cold air nipping at my skin and causing the hair on my arms to raise. I looked up from my arms and said softly, "Looks like I forgot it."

Angela gave me a disbelieving looking, before quickly ushering me inside. "Come on, get out of the rain."

I stepped inside slowly, feeling a rush of soft warmth once inside. Angela shut the door behind me and turned back to face me. "What are you doing here, Bella?"

Taking in a breath through my nose, I wondered what I would tell her. Suddenly, off the tip of my tongue, word vomit just began to flow. "I wanted to know if I could still take you up on that trip to the book store in Port Angeles?"

Angela blinked a couple times in shock, still looking a bit suspicious. But, after a moment, she grinned and nodded. She agreed and asked for me to wait so that she could get her things around. I waited awkwardly at the front door, my eyes avoiding the family pictures and such adorning the wall on one side of me, showing a happy Angela and her loving family.

When Angela came back she had two coats, one for me to use since I had forgotten my own. After that we left in my truck, heading for Port Angeles. I listened to Angela talk while I drove, occasionally adding my own comment or two. My mind was still reeling over the event that had just taken place. I still couldn't believe that Charlie had called a shrink without asking me. I couldn't believe that everyone expected me to be able to spill my guts to some stranger when I couldn't even spill them to my father.

I was thankful that Angela seemed to fill the silence, because my thoughts would have eaten at me much worse if she hadn't been there. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen once I returned home. Would Charlie still force me to go see this doctor? How could I ever trust my father again if he had went behind my back like this? It almost made me feel like my home, the one place I could go to, was tainted. The bad memories were every where and from everyone.

When we got to this book store, I managed to lose myself in the multiple shelves. Angela and I had went our separate way, so that she could find her own books. I didn't find myself looking at just one type of book, but at all of them. I walked through the aisles, running my finger tips along their delicate spines. I found myself intoxicated by that heavenly new book smell of printed covers, untouched ink, and crisp pages. I didn't really glance at any, still not sure that I would ever enjoy reading ever again.

I was looking through the books in a shelf near the front store window, when two people walking past the window caught my attention. They were facing me, and their appearances almost made my heart stop. They had both been deathly pale, so pale that it was almost impossible to think that they were anything other then vampires. I had been so frozen that I hadn't taken the chance to look at the rest of their features, watching as they walked past the window and out of my sight.

"Hey, Bella," Angela greeted, turning the corner of a shelf. "I've found everything I wanted. They have a really great selection here, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I said distractedly, my eyes locked onto the spot that I had just saw the two men.

My heart was racing at the possibility that there was more vampires in Washington. It was dangerous, yet exciting. Were they animal-feeders like the Cullens? Or were they dangerous crimson-eyes like James and Victoria? I was so jittery as I followed Angela to the check out line. I couldn't keep still, shifting my weight from foot to foot, my eyes constantly sliding back to the glass window to see if they would ever walk past again.

_'Calm down, Bella,'_ I finally told myself. _'They might not have even been vampires. You could just be hallucinating again, and we don't want to go down that road again. It'll only give Charlie and that doctor another reason the pump me full of drugs and let me vegetate in a mental institution some place.'_

I managed to calm myself back down as Angela and I started back towards my truck, but I couldn't stop my eyes from wondering around hopefully. I wanted to get a glimpse of the men again, to see if they were truly what I thought they were. When we reached my truck without seeing them, I found disappointment settling into my stomach. I ignored it, however, sitting behind the wheel.

"Hey," I said, catching Angela's attention, "Do you want to go get something to eat before we head back?"

To my relief, Angela agreed. The last thing I had wanted at that moment was to return home. I found a nice restaurant a few blocks away that seemed like a nice place to eat. It wasn't too packed, either, which was something both Angela and I were glad for. Angela seemed concerned when I only ordered a salad, but she brushed it off after ordering herself.

I kept Angela away from my personal life by asking her about her relationship with Ben. Angela had never been one to brag about her life, but she loved Ben very much, I could tell. Even though romance was the last thing I wanted to think about, it was the only topic she could go on for hours about so that I wouldn't have to mention anything of my life to her. The tales of all the things Ben did for her only made my chest ache, but I'd rather endure that small pain then deal with the deadly feeling I felt when talking about Edward.

When we were both finished, me only having eaten through half of my salad, I insisted on paying for her meal. I felt bad that I had used her as an escape and she hadn't known it, so I insisted on paying. After a small argument, I won and Angela let me pay. She was pouting, however, as we made our way back to the truck.

"You didn't have to pay for my meal, Bella," Angela insisted , crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's what friends do," I replied softly.

Angela smiled at the mention of me being her friend. She seemed more content with letting it go now, and we walked in silence. I stopped, however, when I felt eyes burning in the back of my head. Angela noticed I had stopped, and turned back to look at me. Her eyes widened however, as she stared at something behind me.

Slowly, I turned around. My heart jolted when I found myself staring into two pairs of violent, crimson colored orbs. Two perfect being stood before, utterly gorgeous and beautiful like the rest of their species. One had a mop of curly brown hair on his head, and a dimpled face. He was tall and well filled out in a pair of dark wash jeans and a black jacket. The one next to him was a bit broader and a bit taller. His hair was a vibrant orange, cut into choppy layers, his pale face barely dusted with freckles so light one would have to focus to see them. He wore a tight fitting black, wife beater and a pair of light-wash jeans.

They were smiling, but it wasn't comforting in a single way. I instantly knew that we had just become a meal, and I felt bad for Angela who had no idea what would be happening.

"Look at these ladies, Leo," The red head purred in a thick irish accent, his red eyes losing their color with every passing second.

The curly haired man, Leo, closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath. A pleased shudder rolled through his body, and he let out the air in a satisfied hiss. If the Cullens hadn't been lying when they said my scent was very enticing to a vampire, then it must have been me that he smelled. He saw my frozen face, and his face split into a cheshire grin. "Yes, they are quite delicious smelling, aren't they, Cillian? But the Boss said we only needed one, did he not?"

The irish man hummed gleefully, his eyes now as dark as his appetite choices. "That he did, that he did. One more girl for our little game."

Leo wrinkled his nose. "They're both a bit scrawny, though."

"Angela," I whispered through the side of my mouth, knowing very well they could hear me but I hoped that they would be too caught up in their conversation to notice. "Run."

Angela looked utterly confused and terrified, her hands trembling. Slowly, she nodded, before she turned to run. I flinched violently as the curly haired man, Leo, suddenly appeared behind her. She crashed right into his chest, gasping loudly in shock and pain. I wanted to close my eyes and curse myself and my curiosity. Maybe this was karma's way of punishing me for being hopeful that there was vampires around. But why did karma have to bring Angela down with me?

"Try to escape, kitten?" He purred almost seductively, running his knuckles down one side of her face.

Angela was frozen. I could almost see the gears in her mind turning as she contemplated how the man had gotten on one side of her so fast. But the fear seemed to out weigh the curiosity, and I could see a few tears glistening in her eyes. I couldn't help but feel like this was my fault some how. If I hadn't wished for vampires, hadn't hoped for vampires, maybe we wouldn't have gotten into such a mess.

I jumped, my heart following, when Cillian suddenly appeared before me, his hungry eyes gleaming. I felt my body freeze as he buried his face into my neck in an almost intimate way, inhaling deeply as his hands clasped my shoulders. I gasped as I felt them bruise underneath his crushing force, knowing very well that he could shatter my shoulder bones with one squeeze.

_'Good-bye Edward, good-bye Cullens, good-bye Charlie. I'm sorry.'_

"This is the one that smells so good!" Cillian said happily, pulling his nose from my neck and hair.

Leo grinned at his friends finding. "Should we eat her and keep the other for the game? I'd rather not go out an search for more. Besides, one of these girls won't last long in the arena. That way we know not to vote for either of them."

I didn't understand what they were talking about when they spoke of the "game", or the "arena". Something was wrong, something worse then both Angela and I getting eaten by vampires. I almost didn't want to find out. I didn't want either Angela nor myself to die, but I also didn't want either of us to be the one to live. It was obvious that they had plans for the one they kept alive, and I was sure it would be something no one would ever want to go through.

"Let go of me!" I finally shouted in the irish man's face, feeling my shoulder blades pop.

He blinked once in shock, before another sick grin crossed his face. "Nah, I like this one! She's got some spunk. It'd be good fun to watch her get thrown around the arena some with that attitude of hers."

Cillian quickly wrapped his arms around me, turning me around and pulling me against his toned chest. I struggled against him fruitlessly, watching with wide eyes and the man named Leo took ahold of Angela's head. Tears began to roll down my face as I realized what was happening, and I screamed for them to stop. My heart was refusing to beat as I watched the man handle my friend, and my chest was so tight that felt like someone was sucking the oxygen right out of me.

Leo weaved his fingers through Angela's hair roughly, before quickly pulling her head to the side. I heard her neck snap audibly, her neck twisted at such an awkward angle that I could see her face. It was stained with tears, but at least she could no longer feel what was happening. I watched as the man lowered his lips to her neck, before viciously biting into her flesh. He began to suck the blood from her, drinking in the ruby-colored liquid greedily.

I was sobbing loudly, now slack in the irish man's arms as I watched my friend get drained. There was horrified, pained feeling in my stomach. The irish man was laughing so joyfully, a sound that would forever haunt me. Cillian removed one arm from around me once his friend has finished his meal, dropping Angela's empty body to the ground with a sickening, lifeless thud. I felt him strike the back of my neck, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head in pain. Stars flashed around my vision as I felt myself slip away from consciousness.

All I could think about was how many times I had told Angela I couldn't hang out when my day had been absolutely free, but I had been to depressed to think about having any one over. How many times had I blown her off when Edward and Alice had been around? And now, she was dead. She had died so that I could live, not even of her own choice. She had been unable to defend herself, unable to have a say in her life. She was dead. I was alive.

How much longer I would be alive, I didn't know.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this first chapter.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Harley: Here's the second chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2 - Prisoner

* * *

I woke to a throbbing skull and the acrid smell of mold, a combination that only promised danger. Every inch of me felt sore and bruised, like someone had picked me up like a rag doll and had thrown me around for a good couple of hours. It took a while for my body to wake up with my mind, my fingers twitching and flexing in an attempt to get my body started. I opened my eyes, feeling sleep clinging to their lids. I blinked it away, before realizing that it was just as dark with my eyes open then it was with them closed.

My hands pressed against the ground, feeling wet, cool stones run across the skin of them. I carefully pushed myself into a sitting position. I moved forward to far, however, and found my self choking. I was jerked back to the floor, sputtering and gasping as my hands flew to my neck. An iron collar was latched around it, connected to a chain that tautly trailed into the darkness. My hands felt the chain back to the wall, and I realized just how short of a leash I had been given.

I carefully scooted backwards before sitting up again, the slacker chain allowing me to sit up without getting jerked. Panic and fear washed over me like cold rain, the little bolts trailing down my skin. My stomach was twisting and curling, making my insides feel like they were a jumble of writhing snakes instead of organs. I tried to calm myself down, but I knew there was nothing to say or do. This wasn't a situation that I could get myself out of.

There was a cold breeze lingering in the room, making my rub my arms. A small shock went through me when I realized that I was still wearing the jacket that Angela had given me. Poor, poor Angela who was no longer living. I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to keep myself from falling apart at the seams. My fingers curled around the loose material of the sleeves of Angela's jacket, clinging to the wish that she was still alive. There was a cold feeling in my chest wanted me to believe that the whole incident was my fault.

This place was almost the exact physical embodiment of my nightmare. Eternal darkness, stuck cold and alone. I would never be able to leave, and I knew it wasn't a dream because no matter how hard I pinched my arm I didn't wake up. I couldn't escape the darkness by waking up this time, and I felt my sanity towards the situation sinking like a boulder. I was stuck in the darkness awake and asleep now, there was no escape out of it. I would never be able to see light again.

My heart practically tore out of my chest when I heard a soft, cracked groan come from somewhere in front of me, making me gasp loudly and pull my legs to my chest as tightly as they would go. I was trembling in fear, unable to see what my ears were currently hearing. After almost ripping a hole in my chest, my heart settled on beating into a frantic pace to match the fear that was pumping through my veins. I strained my ears hard to listen for more sounds, past the sound of my heart drumming loudly in my ears.

I heard the metallic clinking of chains, a noise similar to the way mine had sounded when I had began to sit up. There was a small sigh in the darkness, before more shifting noises began. The person in the darkness didn't seem to realize that they weren't alone, but they must've been here a lot longer then I had. They didn't freak out, didn't do much but sit still once they had gotten comfortable. I so tense and scared that I didn't want to say anything.

"Is someone there?" I heard a rough, male voice ask suddenly.

A shiver rolled down my spine, but slowly I began to unwind myself from the ball I had formed. "...Yes, I am."

The person let out a small sigh, as though in relief. "Thank god, I haven't spoken to another person since I got put in this damned cell."

I bit my lip softly, before whispering to my mysterious room-mate: "How long have you been here?"

Their chains shifted a bit once more as they moved, but then settled and left the both of us in the unnatural darkness once again. I heard the man hum in thought, making my stiffen as I remember Cillian's amused humming. It brought my thoughts back to Angela's lifeless, tear stained face as Leo drank the blood right out of her snapped neck. The gruesome, violent memory made me want to curl up into a ball and let the darkness consume me. I deserved it for letting Angela die. I deserved my nightmares, I deserved it all.

"-still with me here?"

"What?" I asked softly, snapping out of my thoughts.

"I said I don't remember how long I've been here. If there's a clock in here, then it's too damn dark to see. All I know is that when I fall asleep I usually wake up to the worst plate of food I've ever had to inhale before in my life sitting next to me, not a new room mate," The man said with an amused tinge in his voice.

Pursing my lips, I said slowly, "My name is Bella."

"I'm Isaac," The man said back. "Sorry if I sound too nonchalant about all of this. Normally I would blame it on the hours of mind rotting, violent video games that would probably desensitize me to a situation like this but I've been here a long while. I guess a lot of the shock has just worn off. So, do you have any idea why we're here, in this cell, now having this nice, casual chat in pitch darkness?"

The word tumbled off of my lips before I could even think about stopping it. "Vampires."

A silence followed, and I was mentally beating myself for my stupidity. I waited for a moment, before Isaac finally spoke back up. "...You, you're kidding right? Please tell me that you're kidding."

"No, the men who took me snapped my friends neck and drank from her throat," I told him, feeling a bit guilty that I hadn't told him of my true first experience with vampires. But, that was a bit private and it still hurt to think about. It was best to let the past die, seeing as we were both about to die sometime soon anyway.

Isaac cursed, before letting out a few hoarse coughs. "I don't know why, but I freaking believe you. I thought I was crazy when I kept imagining that the guy who kidnapped me had freaking red eyes. They do have red eyes, right? I'm not just going crazy and making that part up, yeah?"

"Yeah, they all have red eyes," I whispered. "Except when they're hungry."

_'Or if they have a different diet...'_

"What do you mean _'except when they're hungry'_?" Isaac questioned in a weary tone, almost as though he didn't want to know any more about the situation.

"Their eyes were black. The red faded when they smelled us, but it was returning after they drank from my friend. Their eyes are black when they're hungry," I told him, wondering why we were even having a conversation in the middle of this dangerous setting.

Isaac was a peculiar boy, but after a few moments I got used to his nature. We started talking about ourselves. Well, Isaac started explaining about himself first. He said he'd rather pretend that all this stuff wasn't happening and enjoy his last few moments instead of freaking out and crying about it, which I couldn't help but agree with. Why not enjoy the company of the only other person around, one who wouldn't be itching to drain the rubies from my veins? I hadn't enjoyed having a conversation that much since before the Cullens had left.

Isaac was twenty-years old, and had been working towards becoming a, no surprise, video game designer in collage. He had no family, he had lived in an orphanage his whole life. He'd tried to find his real parents once, only to find out that they'd died in a terrible car accident. He had one friend his whole life, a girl named Anna. Anna's family had been pretty wealthy, and she'd always been into video games because she had grown up with four older brothers who also played. The two had been going to collage together for the same thing, and had actually been engaged to be married after a long high school relationship.

"Anna is beautiful," He whispered, now actually sounding a bit sad about the situation. "She could always make me laugh, no matter what. She was such a tomboy... Her parents hated it. They were always trying to dress her up and get her to stop acting like her brothers, but she always refused. We were so perfect together, being with her was as natural as breathing."

My heart ached not only for him, but the love I had also lost. It wasn't the time to worry about those vampires, however, when I had much more dangerous ones on my hands at that moment. Even though these dangerous vampires could probably never hurt me as much as the Cullens did, no matter what they did, they were certainly capable of killing me easier then the Cullens ever could've. They hadn't wanted to, these vampires did. The Cullens didn't mean to hurt me, this vampires would mean it and enjoy every millisecond of it.

I let Isaac talk on, grateful for the conversation to fill the silence. It was helping me escape the horrors of my nightmares. Knowing that someone else was here with me comforted me, but the more I learned about Isaac the worse I felt for him. He had never had a chance at a family, tough he and Anna were talking about having one once they were married and out of collage. He had barely gotten to experience life. Now, he was stuck in a nightmare just like me.

Isaac's talking slowly dwindled as his voice grew hoarse. There was no water for us to drink in our dark room, and no food to eat. Even my under fed stomach was craving food after so long of just sitting in the darkness. Isaac had said before that he never saw anyone, he usually woke up to a plate of some kind of mush and a water with a small, harmless glow stick sitting in it so that he would be able to see the food. The lights never lasted long, he said, like someone had cracked them and kept them for a while before putting them in the water so that we wouldn't have light.

I don't know how long we sat there in the dark, listening to nothing but our occasionally shifting and the clinking of our chains. It was hard to feel bored when you were in a life threatening situation. Every passing second felt like we were waiting for death to suddenly appear and take us. I felt bad for Isaac, having to sit in this darkness all on his own for who knows how long. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, sitting inside that damp room with nothing to do but sit and wait.

My eyes slowly got more droopy as time went on, and I carefully maneuvered myself back down into a lying position. Isaac had laid down a while before, and I found that he was a very quiet sleeper. I tried to make myself comfortable by using my arm as a pillow, but my back was sore from leaning against the stone wall. My head was still throbbing from the blow Cillian had delt to the back of my head, and the pressure of laying it on my arm made the throbbing more violent.

Suddenly, light poured into the room like a sight of glowing yellow. I flinched up right, scrambling away from the harsh light pooling in through the door way. Isaac, too, was awoken by the sudden flush of light. I got a good look at his appearance then. He was tall, very tall, but he had small muscle build that defined his body. He had a light scruff on his well-defined face, but not enough to be considered a beard. His hair was honey colored, short and scruffy. His eyes were a dull emerald that seemed to be slightly mixed with gray.

Inside the newly discovered doorway, however, stood a vampire. It was a woman, a beautiful, tall woman. She was a bit thin, but her vampiric beauty filled her out well. She had long, flowing hair in deep caramel curls teased to perfection. Her skin was pale as and as smooth as cream, glowing in the soft lighting. Her eyes were a vibrant crimson, staring at the two of us almost hungrily. She was clad in a pair of skin tight leather pants. A pair of high, and I do meant _high_, heeled boots crawled over the tight leather material, stretching up to her knees. She wore some kind of corset, not at all ashamed of letting most of her top half push out. The last piece of her that caught my eye was the lacy, gothic styled choker collar around her neck. She held herself so proudly that I could almost see her ego growing with every passing second.

Isaac looked positively stunned by her beauty, but I knew of a beautiful vampire that could've beaten her in looks any day.

"Come, pets," She purred, strutting into the room with perfect grace. "It's time."

She reached into her cleavage and produce a medieval looking key that unlocked both my and Isaac's collars. She pulled us too our feet, one at a time. I could barely keep myself standing with how sore I felt, but knew that I shouldn't displease this woman, because she was capable of a lot of things. Isaac studied my look of terror and seemed to understand that he shouldn't underestimate her. He stayed quiet and followed my example to just deal with any pain and follow her obediently.

The vampiress seemed to understand our cooperation and began to lead us out of our room, a wicked grin on her lips and her hips swaying as she walked. Somehow, as we walked, Isaac's hand and mine became laced. It wasn't out of affection. It was for comfort, because at that moment the two of us were the only thing the other had.

She led us through many halls that seemed strangely uneven and rocky. It was almost like we were in a cave. They must've dug rooms into the rocks inside a cave to make the rooms, placing smoother stone over the insides to make rooms. It explained why our room had been so wet, water must've seeped in through several cracks or spaces between the stone that they'd placed down.

There were torches bolted into the stone here and there, allowing some light so that us humans could see. I could see other groups ahead of us, all a pair of humans being lead by a vampire. After a while I felt a presence behind us, and turned slightly as we walked. There, following us, was Cillian. He was leading a pair of human behind him with a wicked grin on his face. The humans were trembling and white as snow, the color drained from their gaunt faces. It was one girl and one boy, just like Isaac and I. The girl looked thin and tall, but resembled a party girl who was crashing and burning on a bad addiction withdrawal. The boy looked like some big body builder, but even he looked scared.

I decided I didn't know what Cillian had done to them to make them look so scared.

When the Irish man saw my curious eyes, he grinned and winked teasingly.

Paling, I quickly turned back around and clutched Isaac's hand tighter. I heard the vampire's giddy chuckle at my fear, and was determined to not turn around again as long as he was there. I didn't understand what was going on, but the aching fear inside of my chest was telling me that it was nothing good. I could feel myself shaking, and I almost took both Isaac and I down to the ground with my clumsy nature. The shaking didn't help at all, but Isaac seemed strong enough to keep both of us from falling and some how upsetting our kidnappers.

We passed many make shift doors that fit the holes they cover securely, very similar to the rooms Isaac and I had been stuck in. Finally, though, it seemed we reached the end of the hall. There was no door, but instead a grand, stone staircase. It was carved perfectly into the cave's interior. So perfectly, it was no doubt that only a vampire would've been capable of doing it. Why they had gone to such extremes to make such a detailed, livable place out of a cave I did not know.

The groups of three traveled up the stairs, and no one spoke. All that could be heard were the clumsy steps of humans, along with their cries and sniffles. Some were so shaken up that it was hard to even look at them. Seeing a person so afraid and shaken up wasn't pleasant, especially when it was accompanied by the sunken in nature of their faces. They all looked deathly pale, even the people who were of colored ethnicity, after many days without proper cleaning, sunlight, or food.

I tried to avoid their faces, however. Inside my head I had simply labeled us all as cattle, heading into the slaughter house. I determined in my mind that that must've been the answer. They had collected such a large group of us for a nice, group feeding. Maybe they were some kind of large, extended coven. Either way, all of us were going to die. The situation was made so much more real when I looked at them and saw their terrified, abused faces. I felt almost guilty, because I knew more then they did. I knew that this would only end in death. I had no hope. Knowing that they might still have it, and that it would be crushed the way I had felt my own crushed many times before, broke my heart.

When we broke the surface of the cave, all the way up the tiring amount of stairs into the cave mouth, we found ourselves in what looked like a large warehouse. Someone had obviously built this over the cave, and we were only in one part of it. There was a large ring in the center of the room, made messily out of red brick and silvery-gray stones. A small stage was propped up in the center of it, and there was a man standing on top of it. A few other vampires stood around the stage, two of them long legged, well endowed females who were clinging to his pant legs. He allowed them, smirking as their red-painted lips purred out words to him at a vampire-fast pace. The others around him looked eagerly, grins on their impossibly perfect, pale faces.

The man practically radiated danger. The second my eyes touched him, I felt a cold fear trickle down my back like a heavy rain. He made all of my senses freeze up and scream in terror. I didn't want to move, didn't want to think. Every part of him caused me fear, an unreasonable fear I hadn't felt since James had me pinned to the floor of the ballet studio in Phoenix.

His hair was gray, sitting on his head in a shaggy cut. His skin was extremely pale, but looked almost papery to the touch. He had no wrinkles to show his age, but if I had been trying to guess I would've said he had been changed some time in his forties. He was tall in an elegant way, standing proud and strong in his skin of vampirism. He was built like bull, not quite as big as other vampires I had seen, but big enough to intimidate many vampires. He was terrifying in such an elegant, beautiful way that made him all the more horrifying.

The groups of three were suddenly mashed together, the vampires quickly leaving their wards behind. The crowd of humans clumped together not because they were forced to, but maybe as a way of safety. Some how, Isaac and I had been placed in the front. The guy behind my was so close that I could feel his morning breath frantically puffing out against the back of my neck, the guy obviously about the have a panic attack from all the fear inside of him.

All of the vampires now stood before us, inside of the arena and around the elegant man who seemed to be their leader. It was unbelievable to see such a large group of vampires all together, practically drowning everyone in their combined beauty. So beautiful, yet utterly dangerous in ever conceivable way.

There were a few windows that were high up, nearly touching the high ceiling of the room. They allowed a few small rays of sunlight to stream into the room, directly onto the center were the vampires stood. If no one was blinded by their beauty, then they certainly could be be the way the whole groups' skin shined. It was like someone had sculpted them out of pure diamonds, and when the sun hit them their skin shined just as if they had been. Dazzling patterns and dots with rainbow tints danced across our dazzled faces and around the room.

I managed to spot Cillian, Leo, and my and Isaac's leader within the group. They looked so much more beautiful with their skin erupting with such beautiful lights. But I knew that with their kind, the beauty was deadly. It was hook to draw you in, so that they would appeal to you as much as your blood would be appealing to them.

"Welcome, my dears," the man in the center said suddenly.

His voice made me shiver. It was aged with knowledge and many years of experience. The tone his spoke in could leave any being, vampire or not, in a quiver mess of emotions. It was as soft as a feather, touching your senses in almost invasively intimate way. It made every inch of your skin crawl like a pile of ants, running up and down your spine like a jittery spider. The undertone of it's softness, however, was what really seemed to paralyze your soul. The undertone was as deadly as a mouthful of poison. It added that small amount of a cold chill that made you feel like you would never be warm again in your life. It made you so cold, that even your soul shivered.

"I'm sure all of you are very confused," The man said, pacing back and forth shortly on his platform.

He moved like a lion, a graceful beast that was only toying with his prey. You could see the muscles beneath his sparkling skin ripple and pull taut with his movements, making the danger we were in seem even more real. I had never been more afraid in my life. Everything about him instilled fear, and on the inside I felt like I would never be able to forget the sound of his voice or the supernaturally violent shade of red his eyes were. They cast such a daunting feeling over me, like someone had taken a blanket and covered me with it.

The man suddenly paused, his eyes looking over every single scared human in the group. His eyes grazed over Isaac, who froze in fear. I felt his hand trembling in mine, the connection of our hands almost allowing us to have a direct link to each others feelings. The man's cold crimson gaze almost seemed to shine with undeniable mirth at the fear he was instilling. Finally, however, his eyes slid over Isaac, who visibly relaxed right after, and connected eyes with me.

I had stared many monsters in the face. Some, not supernatural. But, the supernatural experience I had with having to look James in the face while he had been in complete control of my life and had had the power to take it away had absolutely nothing on the experience I was going through at that moment. James had been a vicious hunter who had scared me to no end, this man was a graceful, relentless beast who could chill your soul with just one gaze. Having him look into my eyes made me feel like he was stealing all of my emotions, all of the happiness out of my memories. He made me feel like I would never be happy again.

He saw my fear, and it pleased him. His continued to gaze into mine, as a contentful smile crossed his face. "Well, why don't I start explaining everything?"

* * *

**I hope you guys like this! **

**Please review!**


End file.
